Bulls and Celtics clash in the Windy City

Basketball Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls resume a six- game homestand tonight aiming for a measure of revenge over the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics snapped a five-game winning streak by the Bulls in Beantown, 95-91, this past Sunday behind Rajon Rondo's ninth career triple- double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.

Of course Chicago was without reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose in that one. The All-Star, who has missed three straight games with an ailing lower back, had an MRI earlier this week that revealed no structural damage but the feeling is that the Bulls will be very cautious with Rose and he is expected to sit again tonight.

"[It's] getting better," Rose said when talking about his back. "I shouldn't have any problems in the long run. I'm going to take my time and be smart."

Chicago improved to 6-2 without Rose, who has also missed some time with a toe injury, with a 121-115 win over Sacramento on Tuesday night.

Luol Deng had 23 points and 11 assists in that one as the Bulls survived after nearly blowing a 19-point lead. Joakim Noah added 22 points and 11 rebounds as Chicago bounced back from its loss to Boston to win for the sixth time in their last seven games and improve to a gaudy 10-1 at the United Center.

"It feels good to win. It's always great to win, but we have to be critical and understand that we need to play better," said Noah.

The Celtics, who are opening up a five-game road trip tonight, were not able to build on their win over the Bulls, losing to Detroit, 98-88, in Beantown on Wednesday.

Rondo scored a career-high 35 points and added six assists and five rebounds in that one for the Celtics, who were playing without Kevin Garnett (hip flexor) and lost for the third time in four games. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and JaJuan Johnson scored 10 points apiece for Boston.

"A disappointing loss to a team I thought we should have beat," Pierce said. "The defense just let us down tonight. We just consistently couldn't get stops."

Garnett's status for tonight is up in the air as Boston tries to improve on its 4-5 road record and attempts to halt a three-game regular season skid in the Windy City.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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